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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE "IDIOTS" REVERSE THE CURSE September 12, 2004 ... Derek Lowe went from ragged in the pen to rugged on the mound as he submitted one of his finest performances of the season and gave the Sox a sweet opportunity to dump the Mariners and soar home from their seven-game western swing on wings of joy. But Manny Ramirez's gaffe and an outstanding effort by Seattle starter Gil Meche allowed Raul Ibanez to make all the difference by slugging Lowe's only bad pitch of the game for a two-run homer as the Mariners stung the Sox, 2-0, before 43,742 at Safeco Field. Lowe surrendered only two runs on five hits and a walk over seven innings as he improved his ERA to 4.91, his lowest since May 14 and a far cry from the 6.84 ERA that burdened him July 4. It might not have gone to waste had Ramirez reacted differently when Varitek lined to Ichiro in right field with one out in the first inning. Johnny Damon had beaten out a grounder to third leading off and scrambled to third when Ramirez capped an admirable, 10-pitch at-bat against Meche by rifling a double to the right-field corner. But as Varitek's line drive bore down on Ichiro, Ramirez broke for third without watching whether the ball would be caught. He kept running even though third base coach Dale Sveum previously signaled to him there was only one out. And he kept running even as Damon returned to third and prepared to tag. The problem was, the Sox went nowhere after the blunder as Meche pitched a shutout, marking the first time the Mariners blanked Boston since Chris Bosio's no-hitter April 22, 1993. Meche surrendered five hits, only three after Ramirez was doubled up. He walked one and struck out four. The Sox moved runners into scoring position twice more, when Trot Nixon doubled leading off the fifth and when Damon walked leading off the sixth and dashed to third on Orlando Cabrera's hit-and-run single to left. But the Sox wasted both chances as Meche retired the next three batters in order without a runner advancing. Making his first start in right field since July 24, Trot Nixon went 2 for 3 with a double before he was lifted for pinch runner Dave Roberts after singling to lead off the seventh. Nixon is trying to make his second comeback of the season from a serious injury to his left quadriceps. The game marked the latest installment of Lowe's fine turnaround after a dreadful first half. The loss was only his second in his last 11 starts. |
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